[31]
And those
things which are greater than what is acknowledged, or appears, to be great, are
greater. And the same whole when divided into parts appears greater, for there
appears to be superiority in a greater number of things.1 Whence the poet says that Meleager was persuaded
to rise up and fight by the recital of2
“
All the ills that befall those whose city is taken; the people
perish, and fire utterly destroys the city, and strangers carry off
the children.
”
Combination and building up, as employed by Epicharmus,3 produce the same effect as division, and for the same
reason; for combination is an exhibition of great superiority and appears to be
the origin and cause of great things.
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1 Or, “superiority over a greater number of things.”
2 After πεῖσαι all the MSS. except A Paris have λέγουσαν. If this is retained, it must refer to Meleager's wife Cleopatra, who “persuaded him . . . by quoting.” As the text stands, the literal rendering is: “the poet says that （the recital of the three verses） persuaded.” The passage is from Hom. Il. 9.592-594 （slightly different）.
3 Epicharmus （c. 550-460 B.C.） writer of comedies and Pythagorean philosopher, was born at Megara in Sicily （according to others, in the island of Cos）. His comedies, written in the Doric dialect, and without a chorus, were either mythological or comedies of manners, as extant titles show. Plato speaks of him as “the prince of comedy” and Horace states definitely that he was imitated by Plautus.
Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 22, translated by J. H. Freese. Aristotle. Cambridge and London. Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
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